The Tragic Hero
by Tersios
Summary: In order to gain power quickly, Harry accepts a proposal from a dark figure in his room. The shadow convinces him to turn dark. Now he has become a child of Darkness. A Tragic Hero.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Sorry, but another story! Don't worry. Any questions that you have about this story will be answered in due time! If you see any mistakes, have a comment, or see a good idea for the plot then please don't be afraid to speak your mind. Now that I have this idea out of my head I will be able to write my other stories more.

Major spoilers for HBP. If you don't want to know then don't read.

Chapter 1: Enticing Darkness

Harry sat on the edge of his bed contemplating the events of the past year. Pure hatred and rage swelled inside of him as he thought of the traitor. Snape was going to pay, but first Harry had to train. Somehow he needed to learn to fight. He hated to admit it but the man had to be a genius. He needed power and knowledge to fight someone who was writing Dark spells while attending Hogwarts.

_No matter_, he thought,_ I'll get him and I'll...I'll kill him._ At that moment a part of Harry Potters heart hardened. He didn't like fighting but he knew that this was something that he had to do. _I'll kill him and every Death Eater that I can find._ _I'll avenge Dumbledore, my parents, Sirius, Cedric, and everyone who has died because of that horrible man. Then I'll go after Voldemort..._

He stood and looked out the darkened window. He had been setting on his bed since returning from the train station. For hours he sat thinking about Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and all of the others that he thought of as friends. He felt the warmth of friendship when thinking of them. His only family. After a while he came to Dumbledore. The man had made some bad decision but he still felt like a grandfather to him.

After staring into the darkness for what seemed like hours he turned back to his room. He needed a plan to get out and train. Find someone to teach him to be stronger, to be faster, and to be...a killer.

"I'll go to Diagon Alley and get some books," he said to himself. "Then I'll to the Order to see if they are willing to help me. In one weeks time I will start my mission and I'll do whatever it takes to avenge those who have fallen."

With a determined mindset he went to his trunk to find the most advanced defense book that he owned. Sifting through the piles of school objects turned his mind from his surroundings. As he pulled out robes, books, parchment, and other things he did not see the shadows swirling about his room or the growing darkness behind him. Monstrous shapes ran along the walls and on the ceiling. They appeared to have no solid shape as if they were only shadow.

At last he found the book, but froze when he pulled it from the trunk. He had seen movement out of the corner of his eye. Hedwig was sleeping so it could not have been her.

Harry discretely pulled out his wand and stood with the book in his hand. The shadows jumped from the walls and met in mid-air right before he spun and pointed his wand.

He stared at the thing with his mouth agape.

It towered over him. The closest person he had ever seen that tall had been Professor Dumbledore. There was no way that he could beat this thing. It radiated darkness.

"Damn," he said. "I'm dead and I haven't done anything yet." His eyes traveled over the thing as it began to take a vague shape. No features were visible, but that made it all the more intimidating.

Harry dropped his arm to his side as the thing began to glide toward him. He jumped when he heard it speak.

"You wish to dispose of the False Serpent?" It's voice was almost to quiet to hear and sounded as if it had been destroyed by screaming for to long.

He stared, dumstruck at the creature. Slowly the boy registered that it was talking to him.

"What are you? A monster sent by Voldemort? Come to kill me, have you? Well I wont go quietly," he said in a bold yer shaky voice.

It seemed to Harry that the silence from the creature was like someone cocking there head to the side in curiosity.

"A monster? Yes. Sent by the False One? No."

Harry gathered his courage and glared at it. "Then why are you here?"

He had the same feeling of curiosity as before. "You seek vengance?"

"That has nothing to do with what I asked! Why are you here?"

"I have..._felt_...your..._need_...and wish to offer you a...proposition."

He stared inceduously at it for a moment. "I will take no offer from you! I can feel the darkness radiating from you," he angrily said.

"What is wrong with darkness?"

"It's evil," he exclaimed.

"Do you sense any form of evility within me? Do I feel the same as the...Dark Lord?"

Harry frowned at it. "It doesn't matter. I am a Light Wizard."

"You are disgusted with the prejudices of the Wizard World, yet you share some of the same. How...illogical."

"I-I-," the boy-who-lived stuttered.

"Have no excuse. Now, you seek vengence?"

"Yes," he said tiredly.

"You wish to be taught?"

"Yes," he repeated.

"What lengths," the shadow demanded, "are you willing to go to?"

His head lowered. "Almost anything," came the soft reply.

"Will you turn...dark?"

Harry stared at the floor. It went against everything he believed in...but it would give him a chance.

"Now...open your heart to darkness."

A feeble twinge of protest stuck him before he complied.

His arms began to raise of their own accord and that primal fear that man has had for millenia rose inside of him. That fear of the dark that has struck terror of the unknown into countless hearts. As his hands began to sink into the shadow he now understood that fear. Man didn't fear the dark...but what lurked there.

When his arms were parallel to the floor and his hands were in the darkness he felt it pull him in. His arms were no longer visible past the elbow.

Instinct took over him as the monster began to speak again.

"What do you have?"

"The Will," he heard his voice reply.

"What do you see?"

"I see the Need," his voice came again.

"What do you lack?"

"I lack...I lack the Knowledge."

"What is your goal?"

"My goal? My goal is...to kill," said his voice with confusion, "My goal is...to protect...My goal is to...avenge."

"Do you accept the Dark?"

"...Yes..."

Suddenly a peircing pain was felt above his wrists. He screamed in agony as something dug through the skin and bone. It felt as if millions of tiny mouths were chewing a hole through him. The nerves in his arms began to burn outward from the darkness. They would feel as if they were in a bonfire then slowly flickered in painful twinges before going numb.

After an eternity of flames his arms were entirely numb. Something began to push his arms out and he realized that his hands still had feeling in them. Harry collapsed in exhaustion and lay staring at the thing near his feet.

Dizzily he struggled to pull his arms to where he could see them. A sizeable chunk of his arm was gone about an inch below his wrists. He now had a cylander shaped hole that was filled with pure darkess.

He saw the thing move toward him and tried to stand. "Be strong, Young One," he vaguely heard, "for this is but the first step upon a long road."

Harry succeded in sitting up by the time that it reached his feet. He saw a long tendril come from the behind it. The tenticle like thing swung in an arc and peirced both legs. His face screwed up in the hellish agony.

He reached down and touched the thing that he guessed was a tail. It now connected his legs above the ankle.

The familiar fire began to travel upwards. As it reached his knees he felt it slow. After a moment he felt normal again. It was like nothing had happened.

He stood up and saw that the shadow monster was gone. When he turned in a circle to view his room he felt the bones in his arms and legs begin to grow cold. When he could no longer stand it they shattered and he fell. He screamed in pure agony. So loud it was that it shattered every glass object in the room and his own ears bleed from the strain.

As he fell the unearthly scream stopped when mercifull oblivion came from stiking his head on old wobbly desk.

AN: I'm not a good writer. It's hard for me to express what I see in words, but I believe that I'm getting better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Are We Worth the Sacrifice?**

Dumbledore's body lay twisted and broken on the ground in front of him. Even in death his face held a sense of kindness.

People surrounded him in every direction but he could not make out their faces. Some pointed at him in an accusatory way while others stood broken and sorrowful. Their emotions beat at him with an almost tangible force.

He shook as sorrow overcame him. When he closed his eyes the dark scene of death was gone from his dream. Harry opened his eyes to find himself in a pitch black void. A beacon of light appeared in the distance and slowly grew closer.

As it neared a familiar shape became apparent. It was Fawkes. Dumbledore's bonded phoenix.

He landed where his friend's body once lay. No sound came from the magical bird as it stared at him with its fiery yet sad eyes.

"Fawkes?" His voice was cracked and wispy.

The bird cocked its head at him.

"I miss him, Fawkes."

It continued to stare at him with sad eyes.

He snorted to himself. "I must really be off my rocker now. I'm seeking comfort from a bird."

The phoenix gave him an indignant look and he realized that he may have thought of the old man as a surrogate grandfather but the phoenix had been bonded with him before Harry had even been born.

He gave a sad smile. "Sorry. Sometimes it seems as if I'm the only one who cares. You must miss him more than anyone."

The fiery bird blinked and he fell.

Agony tore his mind like a blender. His body felt like it had been scorched and repeatedly hit by the Knight Bus. Every twitch of his muscles seemed to be a hot fire poker grinding along the nerves.

That dark place in his mind that was calm in any situation seemed to be in control. The idle thought that this was the clearest that his mind had been since beginning Hogwarts floated past his awareness.

His eyes snapped open. The void in his mind was a reality. Darkness surrounded him. Everywhere he looked. Infinity. There was no air, no land or mass. Harry could sense that he was awake or rather not unconscious but somewhere that nothing was.

He also knew that he wasn't dead…and he wasn't alone. Another…being…existed with him in this desolate place. Speaking wasn't an option: he had no real physical mass as far as he could tell…but he could think.

'How very curious,' passed through his still docile mind. 'Thought? Could that be key?'

He felt an inexplicable sense of approval and instantly knew it was not his own. He also knew that something inside of him was different. Better or worse? Harry James Potter still inhabited the body but something else rested along his very soul.

Despite the fact that he knew this should concern him. Greatly, at that, he couldn't find it in himself to do so. Harry really didn't care that he seemed to be stuck here, but he was curious as to exactly where was.

'Between,' came an impression upon his thoughts.

'Between what?' he asked in return.

This time it was as if everything seemed to just appear in his mind. It was an image if you could call it that. An image of darkness…but then he saw them…stars…planets…moons…comets…Between?

'Ah, I see…between…the space between?'

Consent came from the Other.

'How?'

He understood it hesitated before sending a feeling of complexity. Runes and numbers appeared in his consciousness.

'So, you are…were a wizard?'

An emotion shot through him. It was the first he felt anything as such from it.

He sent understanding out to it. 'Don't worry. I don't really need to know. Curiosity and that rubbish…'

Harry was no slouch in intellect before appearing here but now…things came to him much easier. The was no doubt that he could have figured out what this place was, but not nearly as fast as he just had.

As his thoughts began to wander for the first time since he arrived here…Harry began to think of the few friends that he had.

'Will I ever see them again?' he thought to himself.

Another pulse came. 'Concentrate? On what?'

Flashes passed through him. He saw Hermione with a wand in her hand and her dazed parents packing a few things. His heart began to ache as he realized what she had done. Hogwarts was there now…Cold and lifeless as its fate was being decided. Lastly a clock on an empty wall was shown. Its hands were still…but as he watched they began to move and the move much faster before the darkness overtook him again.

'So, who, where, and a little of when, huh?'

Agreement was sent before the presence dissipated.

'Well, to Hermione it is then…Thank you, whoever you are for showing me her.'

Harry began to concentrate on his best friend…and there she was. Like a bubble in an ocean. The edges were distorted by the darkness of between, but it was his friend setting on a pair of steps. Like a burnt out star in the vastness of empty space. His sole light to guide him from between to reality.

He pushed through.

Hermione Granger sat on her parents steps and wept to herself. She had just done the most terrible thing that one could do ones parents…but it had to be done. They were on their way to a far away place…Somewhere that she had…even forgotten herself.

She knew she might never see them again, but knowing that they lived in a much safer place filled her with a little sense of hope…and deep regret. Not only had she sent them away…She sent them away without her. In either spirit or body, as far as the Grangers knew: They had no daughter.

As she cried to herself in the dimming light of the day, a rustle came from a nearby hedge and her skin began to crawl.

Her wand was in her hand and pointed at the hedge in an instant.

"Come out," she demanded. "I know your there."

No movement came and she began to wonder if she had been mistaken. Surprise shot through her and she began to yell.

"Stay out of my mind and come out right now or you will regret it!" She was furious as she felt something brush against her newly constructed mental barriers. It was a calming sensation but no one could be trusted these days…Especially in your mind.

A sigh reached her ears.

"I can send you with them, you know? I know you want to go…"

Panic was her response. Someone knew that she sent them away.

"Incarcerous," she whispered, trying to appear casual as she cast a spell. It wouldn't do well to break the statute of secrecy at such a vital moment. Someone might find her parents so she had to hide the magic from her neighbors. It wasn't to hard with the shrubbery but it was good to be careful.

The bindings shot from her wand and into the shadows. To her surprise they fell to the ground seconds later.

"I was only trying to help a friend…You've been good to me all these years. I only wanted to give you what you want."

She appeared confused for a moment. The voice was familiar but had a magical quality to it that made it hard to distinguish. A figure moved into sight and she gasped. It radiated darkness…and yet she felt no ill will from it.

"It's me, Hermione. It's Harry…"

Sorrow wrapped around her mind like a blanket. It was like being under water with no way to breathe.

"NO! Stop that. Get out of my head right NOW! INCENDIO!"

The spell shot towards the man and he began to burn. She felt his pain as the fire wrapped around him…but he did not move. He just stood there. Suddenly she felt the presence around her barriers gone. Hollow green eyes peered through the licking flames as they slowly died down.

Most of his clothes were in tatters, but as she watched they began to pull themselves back together. He did not appear to be harmed from the fire at first but as she looked closer in the dim light, the last small flames revealed scorched skin and…something beneath. It was not blood, or muscle, it was black, the darkness of infinity.

Hermione could do nothing but stare as the no longer burning clothes were fully restored.

"Th-that's not possible," she stuttered. "Even with magic. You should be dead! You haven't cast a spell, nothing to protect yourself…Who…What are you?"

A tear rolled down the face…but she could not have seen it in the dark.

"It's me," he said in a broken voice. "Harry."

She shook her head.

"You can't be! Harry is HUMAN. If you were Harry, then you would be dead!" She was not going to believe this mad man. 'He may have Harry's eyes but there was no wa…'

"I am Harry," he cut into her rant with a shaky voice. "It wasn't my father at the edge of the lake. It was me. I saved my own life."

She gasped. "No one could have…How?" she paused. "Harry? What's happened to you?"

Finally gathering her senses, she rushed over to her friend and wrapped him in a hug. She felt terrible about setting him on fire…but caution is a good thing to have in dark times. She just hoped that Harry was okay.

"Oh no…Harry? Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" she gushed as she pulled him tighter, after realizing she had cursed her best friend.

He gave a hollow laugh as he returned her hug.

"Don't worry," he said in a quiet, soothing voice…"I'm just a bit harder to snub out than the last time you saw me."

She pulled back and flinched when he gazed at her tear stained face.

She sniffed and asked, "What do you mean? What was that spell? I've never seen anything like it!"

Harry wiped at her face with a sleeve. She saw him concentrating and let it pass in this uncommon show of emotion between them. They were friends and even had a few awkward moments pass between them, but this was different. She knew that he didn't want to let go and she didn't want him to.

He sighed.

"I di…," he began. "Someone…someone gave me something."

She became suspicious immediately.

"What did they give you?" she asked and then paused. "Wait…who gave you a gift?"

He looked uncomfortable as he hugged her again.

"I…I'm not sure. I have my suspicions…but they don't make sense," Harry said into her hair.

"I'm different now," he said. "I don't think I'll ever have a little Harry junior running around…"

She froze for a moment and pulled away angrily.

"What did this person do to you? Only dark rituals would take away fertility! How could you do something like that?" she demanded.

A tear slid down his cheek and her expression softened.

"I didn't do anything like that, Hermione. I thought you of all people would know that…maybe I was wrong."

She began to tear up and he turned away from her. He sat on the step of her house and stared at the night sky.

Hermione sat beside him and leaned on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you know the only things that do that to you are really evil rituals…I know that you don't broadcast it like I do, but your as smart as I am sometimes. Sometimes more so…What would you think if someone said that to you after having their skin burned off and re-grown in moment?"

"He," he began and paused. "He gave me part of his power…a part of himself. There was no sacrifice…no physical death."

She sobbed.

"Oh, Harry," she sniffled again. "What's happened to you?"

"I'm still human," Harry sighed. "But I'm also something else….I don't know if it's for the better or worse. We'll see in time."

"I can see it now," he interrupted as she opened her mouth. "The moon. I can see every crater. Every mark…I can see how they happened too."

The bushy haired girl turned to her friend. She knew that he knew that she wanted to question him, but would let him explain in his own time.

"There is a place," Harry said after a while. "A place where everything is connected. Time…space…"

Hermione was thoughtful for a moment before she gasped.

"A space between," she murmured to herself. "That's what he said…"

Harry looked startled as he turned to her.

"A space between? How did you know that?"

Hermione looked pained for a moment.

"The was once a man that like to push the limits of what his body was capable of. In turn of the century Greece, sometime in the year 1900, it's not a very descriptive account; a man was experimenting with the practical aspects of ascension. That's where…," she stopped as he gave her a look.

"Anyway, from what was discovered in his home, months after he disappeared…well, when someone realized he was gone, was that he had tried to ascend to a higher plane and anchor himself to this one at the same time. In 1908, a young couple had bought the home and burned his records, believing them to be to dangerous to not destroy and kept the house. In 1913, at 12:13 am, the family was woken by a wailing sound from the man's former study. He was naked, gaunt, and appeared to be an insane beggar or some such nonsense. He was quickly taken away by the area's law enforcement, but he would continually mutter about the space between and forever. It wasn't until later that the wife realized that the man was the same who had been in the few portraits in the house when they had moved in. His dried body was found the next morning in a cell. It wasn't until recently that the account has been detailed and even then parts of it are still a bit dodgy."

Harry looked deeply disturbed after hearing the story.

"That poor man…I had someone to show me out…He must have been there so long…"

Hermione shot him a startled look.

"You've BEEN there? How is that possible?"

She looked excited and troubled at the same time. As if wondering if she would lose her best friend to insanity.

"Time is no longer…time there. You wouldn't like it much. Schedules wouldn't matter much," he said jokingly with the first smile she had seen from him.

"You are nothing and everything at the same time…but I think you can 'have' a body if you want…That poor man could have been there for millennia without knowing how to reattach to this world. I can show you if you want?"

She gave him a nervous look and finally shook her head negative.

"That's not a place I want to go to…"

He softly smiled to her and stood.

"I know."

He held out a hand and she accepted while standing.

"Shall we?" he asked with a grim smile.

She gave him a bemused smile.

"Shall we what?"

Pulling her into a hug he said, "There's a whole world out there, waiting to be saved, and not knowing it. Parents to be avenged, friends to be saved, and lastly," Harry said bitterly. "A place in this wretched society that we can call home…"

A light pop could not even be heard as the pair vanished into thin air.


End file.
